When the Japanese army discovered that the bombers were flying over, it was too late to evacuate. They could only lie on the ground with their buttocks stuck out, praying that the bombs would not be thrown on their heads.
The 18 bombers kept circling over the Japanese army until all the aerial bombs were dropped, and then they left.
The Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers on the opposite mountain ridge and the members of the county brigade saw how majestic their bombers were. They all clapped their hands on the mountain and some even waved to the sky to pay tribute to the heroic air force officers.
Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro were very lucky. They were not injured in the bombing just now, but they were still stained by the mud splashed by the nearby explosion.
After the bomber flew away, the two stood up. The scene in front of them was shocking. The mountains were littered with Japanese corpses, and the injured Japanese soldiers were wailing loudly. The scene was very tragic.
After counting the casualties, Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro felt chilled. In this round of bombing alone, the Japanese casualties reached more than 800 people.
Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro were worried that the enemy bombers would refuel and load aerial bombs and come again to bomb. After discussion, they decided to use the original method to evacuate the troops and continue to attack at night.
It is a pity that the main force of the Japanese army is now gathered on a mountain, with members of the Eighth Route Army and county brigade in all directions. It is simply impossible for the Japanese army to deploy as calmly as before.
They had to send out troops again to launch a counterattack against the Eighth Route Army following them, hoping to seize several nearby hills and disperse the troops.
After receiving the order, the Japanese officers and soldiers had to drag their tired bodies and launch another attack on the Eighth Route Army's position.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to re-climb those mountains. The officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army had already seen the power of the bombers. They did not want the Japanese soldiers to have a place to hide, so they tried their best to block the Japanese troops and surrounded the Japanese troops in the mountain range in front.
Lin Husheng sent a telegram to Xu Dalong again, reporting the situation here and requesting the Air Force to dispatch again.
Soon after, the 18 bombers that had just arrived flew over again and carried out indiscriminate bombing.
This time, in addition to dropping a large number of aerial bombs, many incendiary bombs were also dropped. These incendiary bombs ignited a raging fire on the mountain. A large number of Japanese soldiers were wailing and struggling in the fire. The members of the Eighth Route Army and the county brigade were very relieved to see them.
For this round of bombing, the Japanese soldiers were prepared in advance and evacuated as much as possible. In other words, their number was reduced a lot due to the last bombing.
Even so, this round of bombing still caused more than 500 Japanese soldiers and casualties. Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro were very depressed.
They now have insufficient troops and are no longer able to deal with the Eighth Route Army on all sides. They just hoped that the sky would darken quickly so that they could use the night to break out.
It's a pity that it's only morning now. Looking at the sun hanging high in the sky, I really don't know how to pass this time.
They were very worried that enemy planes would come to bomb again, but they had no choice but to pray that the enemy's aerial bombs would run out.
This time they were really lucky. The two bombings had consumed a lot of aviation bombs and fuel.
Since aerial bombs were still left to deal with the main force of the Japanese army, Xu Dalong ordered a temporary halt to the bombing of this Japanese army.
The four companies of the Eighth Route Army and the five county brigades responsible for blocking the Japanese army originally wanted to delay the Japanese army's actions and see the situation in front of the Japanese army.
Their courage also grew. After discussion, they actually came up with the idea of using the forces in front of them to eat the surrounded Japanese army.
The officers and soldiers of the five county brigades were particularly excited because they were local troops and rarely had the opportunity to fight such a big battle, nor could they make such a big contribution.
Now facing a group of defeated Japanese soldiers, they are fully capable of eating them. Of course they would not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and the members of the county brigade made up their minds never to take a step back. They occupied the hills and ridges around the enemy and built defensive positions to trap the Japanese army here. When the time was right, they would launch a general attack on the Japanese army and completely annihilate them.
Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro never dreamed that the situation would change so quickly. Originally, they were stationed in the No. 6 Mountain area and took the absolute initiative.
But since leaving the original position, he has fallen into such an embarrassing situation. What they were thinking about now was not how to attack the Eighth Route Army's flanks and rear and cooperate with the main force in fighting, but how to lead these defeated soldiers to break out.
Hirota Hongyi looked around with a telescope. He saw a large number of enemy troops in plain clothes on the surrounding mountains. He felt very angry and even felt very humiliated.
He was an arrogant person. He really could not have imagined that the majestic Japanese Yellow Army would be surrounded by a group of plainclothes Tubalu. It seemed that the enemy had plans to eliminate them.
This made Hirota Hongyi's self-esteem unbearable.
"Bage Yalu, Bage Yalu." He kept cursing. He had nothing to do against Tubal Road guarding the surrounding mountains. Now he only hoped that it would get dark soon, and then concentrate his forces to attack Tubal Road in one direction.
Not only did he want to lead his troops to break out of the encirclement, but he also wanted to eliminate those Tubalu who blocked the road to vent his evil anger.
While the fighting in the No. 6 Mountain Area and the Licheng area was fierce, Hirata Haoya led the advancing team to leave the mountainous area and enter the boundaries of Yangcheng County.
The advancing team had made preparations in advance. The weapons they carried and the clothes they wore were exactly the same as those of the Eighth Route Army. In each detachment, specially selected people who were familiar with Chinese were arranged to be ready to deal with possible interrogations at any time.
They adopted the method of traveling day and night to advance into the hinterland of the base area. For easy identification at night, each of them wore a white towel around their necks.
That night, the Japanese advance team was marching and saw a group of dark buildings in front of them, which should be a village.
Hirata planned to bypass the village through the fields, so he led his troops off the country road.
They detoured several miles before bypassing the village in front of them. When they set foot on another country road, they suddenly heard someone shouting in front of them: "Who is it? Password." This moment made Hirata Hiroshi confused.
Pretending to be the Eighth Route Army, they had done a lot of homework in advance, but he really didn't know the password.
However, he did not panic. He made a gesture to get the troops ready for battle and shouted loudly: "Please don't get me wrong. We are from the transportation battalion of the New 1st Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. We have just returned from the mountains with supplies and did not receive them." Password for tonight." The person who asked the question did not say anything, probably trying to discern the authenticity of Hirata Hiroshi's words.
Probably because Hirata Hiroshi said the number was so accurate. There have been a lot of transport teams passing by recently, so it's possible that he didn't know the password that night.
The person who asked the question did not identify the other party as an enemy, but was somewhat doubtful. One person shouted: "The people you are leading come here." Hirata was very courageous. To avoid the other party's suspicion, he walked over alone.
Soon after, Hirata Hao saw an Eighth Route Army soldier standing in the middle of the road. He saw that Hirata Hiroshi was a cadre, so he saluted him with a military salute and said: "Comrade, which army do you belong to? Please show your ID." Hirata Hiroshi reported his number again and handed over the information in advance. The prepared documents were handed over.
After the sentry read it, he asked Hirata Hiroshi about the situation on the front line. He couldn't see any problem with Hirata Hiroshi and the others, so he said: "You can come over." Hirata Hiroshi thanked him and turned around and shouted: "You all come over." The advancing team lined up and walked over.
Hirata Hiroshi said to the sentry: "Comrade, we don't know the password tonight. Can you tell us? To avoid misunderstandings in the future." The sentry already believed their identities at this time, so he told Hirata the password. Hao.
Hirata Hiroshi said: "Thank you for your hard work." and then left with the advance team. The Japanese squadron leader who acted with Hirata Hiroshi was named Nagawa Yuichi. He was considered a tall man among the Japanese army, standing at 1.75 meters.
This guy has a thick body, a fierce look on his face, and looks very tough. After leaving the sight of the Eighth Route Army sentry, he said: "Mr. Hirata, there was only one sentry just now, why didn't you kill him?" Hirata Hao shook his head and said: "You don't know this, don't look at the people standing on the road. There is a sentry, and at least one latent sentry not far away. If we take action, the target will definitely be exposed." Yuichi Nagawa fought very bravely, but his brain was not very bright.
Hearing this, he said with admiration: "Mr. Hirata, you are still awesome. How did you tell?" Hirata Hao said: "When I shouted just now, the sentry remained silent. It was obvious that he was After discussing with the people lying around, he let me pass." Nagawa Yu nodded and said: "What you said does make sense, it should be like this. These eight-robbers are really cunning." Hirata Hiroshi couldn't help but feel. Questions arose and he thought to himself: "This idiot Nagawa, how come he doesn't know such simple military common sense?" What he didn't know was that this was specially arranged for him after discussion between captain Yamahara Ichiro and Hirota Koki. of.
They know that Hirata Hiroshi is smart and does not need to seek the opinions of his subordinates. What he needs is a guy who can obey orders absolutely. Nagawa Yuichi just meets this standard.
This guy is brave in battle and simple-minded. He only knows how to obey the orders of his superiors. Only when such a guy cooperates with Hirata Hiroshi can he play the greatest role.
There is another consideration in Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro's arrangement, that is, Hirata Hirota is attached to the regiment and does not directly lead the troops. The people in this squadron are not very familiar with him. If he is replaced by someone with too many thoughts, As the squadron leader of the advancing team, Hirata Hiroshi would not be so comfortable in command.
Hirata Hirota was also thinking about this issue while walking. After much deliberation, he finally came to a realization and understood the intention of Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro's arrangement, and couldn't help but admire him greatly.
He thought to himself: "It's an honor to meet such a commander. I must perform well this time and live up to the trust placed in me by the commander." After obtaining the password, Hirata Hiroshi led the army advance team along the The country road swaggers forward.
On the way, they encountered two more checkpoints one after another. Because they answered the password correctly and there were no problems with the ID documents they carried, they passed both smoothly.
After a night of marching, everyone was a little tired. Seeing that it was about to dawn, Hirata looked around and found a small forest not far away, so he led the team into the forest and camped inside.
Hirata Hiroshi did a lot of homework before setting off, including understanding the accommodation issues of the Eighth Route Army.
Normally, the Eighth Route Army would choose villages to camp, and the people welcomed them very much.
Hirata Hiroshi also wanted to take the team to the front and choose a village to camp, but he did not dare to do so. Many of his advancing team did not understand Chinese, and the living habits of the Japanese army were very different from those of the local people. Their words and deeds Behavior will inevitably arouse suspicion in others.
Therefore, he could only choose to camp in the wild. Hirata Hiroshi has also led soldiers before, and he knows how to win people's hearts.
He usually behaves very seriously and is very strict with the soldiers, just to establish his prestige.
But in life, he took great care of the soldiers. When camping, he personally checked the rest of the soldiers, helped the soldiers cover their quilts, and even helped the wounded treat their wounds.
This in turn won him the love of his soldiers. Hirata Hao behaved very calmly along the way. He calmly dealt with the Eighth Route Army's inspection, and his performance also won the trust of the soldiers.
Hirota Koki and Yamahara Ichiro really saw the right person. Hirata Hirota has now become the core figure of this advancing team, and he can lead the advancing team to exert tremendous energy.
The sky was bright and the sun shone through the shade of the trees on the faces of the Japanese officers and soldiers. Hirata Hiroshi also woke up. He did not see the situation in this forest clearly at night. Now he wanted to get up and check the surrounding terrain in order to deal with emergencies.
When he checked the surrounding situation, he realized that the situation was serious. This forest is not large, and there is a path through the forest.
There are also large areas of farmland surrounding the woods. He was not able to notice any of this at night.
Hirata Hiroshi was worried that people would come to farm nearby, or someone would pass by on the forest path. In that case, their whereabouts will be exposed.
Although they were wearing the uniforms of the Eighth Route Army, it was normal for them to camp in the wild under normal circumstances. However, this was the base area of the Eighth Route Army after all, and there was no need for the Eighth Route Army troops to camp in the wild.
If a thoughtful person can think of this, they will definitely be able to figure out their identity. Hirata Hiro walked out of the woods and looked around, hoping to find another place to camp.
Suddenly, he noticed two people walking in this direction in the distance. It looked like they were likely to pass through the forest path.
Hirata Hiroshi hurriedly ran back into the woods and asked the soldiers to hide as far away from the forest trails as possible.
Hirata Hiroshi's judgment was correct. Those two people really walked towards the woods. The people who came over were a young couple. The man was a militiaman from Tianjiazhuang named Tian Guifen.
The reason why his name resembles that of a girl is not because he is handsome, but because his parents gave birth to four sons in one go. They were looking forward to having a daughter, so they gave their youngest son a girl's name.
He was leading a donkey, and sitting on the donkey's back was his daughter-in-law Liu Xiuzhi. Today he was going to send Liu Xiuzhi back to her parents' home.
Tian Guifen was in a good mood. Xiu was humming a little tune as he walked. He sang: "On that sunny day in Jiujiu, I became the groom's official. The bride is so beautiful! Her name is Liu Xiuzhi."
